Gesca wants to save $26 million. Half of that will come from reducing expenses, including cutting the Sunday issue, reducing the width of the paper by an inch and cancelling internships. It is asking for the other half to come from concessions from employees (including managers), and is throwing out thinly-veiled threats to shut down the paper entirely. La Presse’s union has been without a contract since Dec. 31.

This doesn’t bode well for the daily newspaper as a medium. Tough times and changing consumer demands are undermining the bloody things. And Craigslist is sucking a huge amount of ad revenue out as well. It’s making me wonder how long this can remain sustainable, and what options for re-invention of the daily remain.

According to its last collective agreement, starting (base) salaries at La Presse range from $730 to $1058 a week, depending on position. That works out to between $20 and $29 an hour. Whether that’s “overpaid” is a matter of judgment I guess. It falls near the Canadian hourly average wage of $23.50 an hour.